Tuesday, 19 June 2012

Skcin are pleased to announce Crista Cullen as a new patron of the charity. The GB hockey star, who will also be going for gold at the London 2012 Olympics, has suffered from skin cancer herself and understands the importance of checking the skin, detecting any changes early and also staying safe.

Crista Cullen is a Leicester, England & Great Britain (GB) Womens Hockey star. Crista has over 150 Great Britain and England combined caps, being honoured with her first GB Cap when she was just 18. With Commonwealth, World Cup and European cup bronze medals and as Great Britain’s top goal scorer in the Beijing Olympics, Crista is widely recognised as one of the best hockey defenders in the world.

Born in Lincolnshire, Crista spent her early life growing up in Kenya, where her family still live, before moving to Leicestershire at the age of 12 to attend Oakham School. She went on to study Business Studies at Nottingham Trent University achieving a 2:1 Hons degree. Photo to right supplied courtesy of GB Hockey

Crista says... "Being someone who was lucky enough to detect the signs of skin cancer early and coming from a family who have had a number of skin issues through the generations, I fully support skin cancer awareness and education and am happy to become a patron of Skcin.

I was brought up in Africa where the sun is a way of life and being an International Great Britain Hockey player, spending lots of time outdoors, I have had to be very diligent with application of sunscreen to my lower lip, and the rest of my body since my incidence of skin cancer at the age of 18. In Africa we are all too aware of the strength of the sun, however here in the UK I think people are less wary of its strength and the likes of 'sunbeds' are used regularly to detrimental effect. Getting regular full body skin checks is important and I try to visit a specialist at least annually."